


Teamwork

by pillow forts (pyroooah)



Category: Naruto
Genre: BAMF Haruno Sakura, Bickering, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Hokage Minato, Massive AU, Mission Fic, Mizukage Mangetsu, POV Haruno Sakura, Teamwork, mentions of human trafficking, no beta read, they are both idiots
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-15
Updated: 2020-08-15
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:02:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25921783
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyroooah/pseuds/pillow%20forts
Summary: Look. It’s not like Sakura gave a hoot about who owned the sword. But she wasn’t about to fail the mission and have water-boy kill her client for a needle. She elegantly plucked out the largest tree from the ground, he blinked and she swung it towards him—“What the—”—sending the tree flying through him.Or where Suigetsu and Sakura team up for a common enemy.
Relationships: Haruno Sakura/Hoozuki Suigetsu
Comments: 20
Kudos: 203





	Teamwork

The first time Sakura saw that sword, Kakashi was almost sliced in two. She was a genin with knobby knees and she gripped a single kunai, and Naruto and Sasuke was ahead of her. After Zabuza's death, they left it on his grave. 

The second time she saw the sword, her kunai was the only thing between her and swift decapitation. She was pressed up against the boulder, and she barred it from swerving through her neck. 

He tilted his head at her and regarded her like he’d look at a kitten trying to claw at him behind a cage. 

“Hey, you’re kinda cute.” 

“Why don’t you give me a free pass then?” She grit her teeth as his sword pressed against her kunai. 

He shook his head with a sharp grin with the pointiest teeth. “Nice try. Your client has a little something of mine.” 

“Technically, I can’t let him die. I'm being paid." 

“I know,” he said. “That’s why I might have to kill you first to get to him.” 

“Haha…” Sakura balled up her fist. “I thought it might end up like this.” He watched her fist curiously as it slammed back against the boulder

The next thing he knew is that the boulder fell apart, and he was dodging rocks and cursing. 

"What the hell?" 

Her client was a skeezy old man who liked to keep swords as antiques, and he and his family were being escorted. One of them included one of the Seven Deadly Swords of the Mist. A needle or whatever. The man barely knew how to swing a sword, but she doubted that her client would _just_ let it go easily. Part of the mission brief included "protecting his goods." 

Look, it’s not like Sakura gave a hoot about who owned the sword. But she wasn’t about to fail the mission and have water-boy kill her client for a needle. She simply plucked out the tree from the ground, he blinked and she swung it towards him—

“What the h—” 

—sending it flying through him. 

She then made a break for it. 

See, she thought she got away. She felt a spray of water on her neck. He was right behind her. He leaned in to whisper into her ear. “Thought you could get away, huh?” 

Sakura always had a few tricks up her sleeve. Most of her encounters took one punch. But this one only ended up with her face getting splattered. He kept reforming. To make matters worse, it was raining and it made him hyper (big surprise there.) 

She heard a whistle. “Okay,” he said. “Enough playing around.” That’s when she felt him cover her mouth with his hands. He liquified again and she found herself in a water bubble. She couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t breathe. 

What if she could manipulate it like she manipulated the water in someone’s lungs. He did mention this was part of his body, right? Right? _Right._

Her fingers surrounded the bubble. It steamed as her chakra imbued with the water and it began to meld together to manipulate the water molecules away from her mouth to form a breathing mask.

Then the bubble glowed green. 

“What are you—” The rest of it was lost in a garble as he ripped his hands away from her. He stared horrified at his globby arms. He tried to manipulate it into solidity, but it fell apart like a putty. 

“What did you do to me?” he spluttered. 

He was also caught off guard when another punch sent him flying into a tree bark.

She raked a hand through her wet hair to get it out of her eyes. 

“It works like a lot of liquids that I work with. If I can insert chakra into someone’s bloodstream, I figured I could manipulate yours. Arms were a side-effect.” 

“THE HELL?” he yelped. 

She regarded him with a smirk. She stuck her tongue out at him. “You shouldn’t underestimate your opponents _!”_

She headed off into the rain—leaving him, his wobbly arms and unable to hold his sword. 

* * *

Sometimes missions went wrong. Obito told her hilarious (or horror) stories of how Kakashi ended up in the enemy’s camp in a dress, and Obito managed to get the two of them out of that particular bind. She distinctly remembers Kakashi whapping his teammate at the back of his head, and Rin winking at her. 

But this mission doesn’t end up being that funny. 

Part way, Sakura realized her client was actually part of a human-trafficking scheme. He’s the “transporter.” The demand was prostitutes. Child prostitutes. 

Sakura wonders if he thinks her an idiot, or that he thinks that Konoha has no moral code to accept a mission like this. 

When she escorts him to the “home,” Sakura realizes that the “family” of the client is actually his “goods.” The little girl looks up at her. The girl is only _five_ years old. This is his daughter, and the older girl looks barely fifteen. 

They both looked at her for help. 

“I think that’s it,” the man hums good-naturedly. Sakura had figured it out exactly _fifteen_ minutes earlier. How does a civilian man have possession of the Legendary Sword of the mist? Why is he winking at her? “Konoha will get the rest of the payment in two weeks.” 

Did he seriously take Konoha-nin for idiots? 

Wasn’t this supposed to be an easy B-ranked mission? Her opponents are greater in number, and she has to give him credit for being discreet. Sakura evaluates her options. She evaluates the child. The child is dragged into his rather large mansion. 

The child looks back at her. 

Sakura’s heart broke, and she gave her a determined nod. She wasn’t about to let Konoha’s name go down the drain with a mission like this. 

Their client was supposed to be a respected merchant. Minato-sama would have double checked. Konoha doesn’t tolerate being double crossed, and Sakura had more honor than this. Konoha _wanted_ no ties with Orochimaru, if Orochimaru was part of this ring for experiments. 

She bit her lip as she thought of a way to get the kids out. 

* * *

The third time she'd come face to face with that blade was exactly twenty hours after the second encounter, and she eyed it warily as it was strapped to his back. 

"It's okay. I give up." 

"Hah! Not falling for that!" 

“In fact, I want to help you.” 

“What?” he eyed her suspiciously. "Still not falling for it." 

“So…” 

“Soooo?” 

“I’ve been duped, and I think we should tag-team.” 

“Why the hell would I do that?” 

“Don’t you want your needle?”

“Needle?” he repeated with incredulity. “Pinky, it’s _not_ just a needle—”

She interrupted him quickly. “I can fix your arms too. But you gotta help me.” 

“You’re joking.” 

“Word of honor from Tsunade-sama’s apprentice.” 

The jerk actually has the audacity to laugh at her. But then, the goons were searching for the pair of them, because one of them stepped in a trap—coincidentally placed by a fish-faced boy. They all rushed towards them, and Sakura planted her foot on the ground, and it erupts. 

“Are you a genin or something?” she barked at him. "What happened to _subtlety?"_

 _"_ YOU CALL THAT SUBTLETY? Now, they know we're here!" He pointed at the explosion of the ground, and the rumble is deafening. "Are _you_ a genin or something?" 

They both manage to evade a spray of kunai, and take cover behind the trees. 

“I need my arms,” Suigetsu says. “I need my arms. I can blast us a way through. I want the sword. In my arms. How long will it take you to heal my _arms?”_

“Uhh…” she trails off as the goons rush towards them, and she sends one of them flying. “A while? I need to do a diagnosis.” 

“Diagnosis? You don’t even know what’s wrong, do you!?”

“Um, obviously not, water-boy. Doctors do diagnosis to find out what’s wrong. Duh!" 

She then got a mad idea, and she slowly turned to look at him.

He frowned. “What?” 

“I have a mad idea.” 

“I’m listening,” he said. "If it gets us out of here." 

“Okay,” Sakura says. “Why don’t you hydrificate and use me as a puppet. We can use your sword.” 

He blinks at her. The moment she said it, she regretted it. She could use his insane speed. 

“You have to help me rescue the family, though. You have _got_ to help me, alright? They are somewhere in that large mansion. You can ah, _blast_ your way through, huh?” 

“Did you mean it?” 

Her mouth caught up with her brain. Did she just suggest that he control her own body? Sakura heated up. What was she thinking? How was she _going_ to explain this to Minato-sama? Wasn’t she supposed to be a chuunin for heaven’s sake?

“What’s your name, pinky?” 

“Haruno Sakura,” she said with a twitch in her eye. He raised his eyebrow in recognition. “Yours?”

“Hōzuki Suigetsu,” he said back. "Never heard of you." 

"Never heard of you either, water-boy." 

They eyed the approaching group of thugs and missing-nin, running over the split ground towards him. 

“No funny business!” He chuckled as he moved in, and Sakura felt his slimey self coat her arms and her body. She hissed, and she plucked the sword off the ground. 

“I hate this. This is so creepy and weird and I'll probably need a bath,” she said. She thought she felt his chuckle ripple over her skin. “No. I just meant my arms and— _augh! Water boy._ ” 

Her arms and legs began to move on its own, and she charged forward. 

It was strangely weightless, and she found herself moving at a speed she didn’t remember she could move at. She brought her fist towards the rocks that were sent her way, and smashed them one after the other, and then she swung her sword—cutting cleanly through a clone. 

Suigetsu was on a powertrip, and Sakura was in despair. They melted through the enemies, because Sakura bore the weight of his dumb heavy sword, and Suigetsu controlled her accuracy. 

“This is taking long.” She blocked a blow. “Weren’t we supposed—I dunno—blast our way through here?” Sakura asked. “So you can get your dumb sword, and I can get to the to the family?” She blocks a spray of needles. 

She tries very hard not to think about all the attacks that _would_ have missed, and she kicked down the door of the mansion, and it was sent flying through the building. At his point, she wasn’t sure if it was her or him.

Her arms moved at lightning speed as the whole mansion erupted into chaos, and neither Suigetsu nor Sakura complained. He grinned. 

His head popped up creepily on her shoulder. 

“LET’S DO IT, PINKY!” 

She screamed. 

* * *

“So…” 

“So.”

The client was dead, the family was safe, the rest of the goons fled for their lives, and the mansion had been freed of all the people, who were going to be trafficked. Sakura set fire to it with a satisfied smirk. She burned it down as well. 

Sakura took her time healing them, and she then sent word to Konoha via Katsuyu that her mission would be a little delayed. 

The little girl looked up at the pair of them and she held out a flower.

“For me?” Sakura asked.

“Yes,” she said. 

“Thank you,” Sakura said with a pretty smile, and she planted a kiss on her forehead. The girl then walked over to her disgruntled companion.

He eyed her incredulously as she held out a flower towards him.

“Uhh…” he eyed her. “Um?”

“It’s not like she’s going to poison you or something,” Sakura said glibly. 

He grinned at the girl, ignoring Sakura, and he crouched before her. “I can’t use my arms, because of that monstrous woman there—” Sakura bristled “—but you can put it on my hair.” 

And she watched with a raised eyebrow as the girl put a flower behind his ear, and he had this stupid cute grin on his face. Sakura faltered over her mental thoughts.

Did she just call him cute mentally?

“Do I look cute?” 

_Yes_ —I mean what was _wrong_ with her.

“Yes!” the girl said with a smile, and he stood up. 

“Thank you, I’ll cherish it.” 

The girl’s older sister gave them both a grateful smile. Sakura put a hand on her shoulder.

“Please be safe on your way back. I’d escort you, but I have to deal with this guy first.” 

“Thank you,” the girl said. “We will always be grateful to Konoha for this.” She looked kindly at Suigetsu who was making a face. “And Kirigakure.” 

He looked surprised. 

* * *

"So." 

"Don't start." 

“I’m currently the wielder of both _legendary swords of the mist_.” She smirked at him. He shot her a glare. “Easy now. I don’t know what I did to your arms, but that’s only fair when you tried to attack me.” 

I mean, she swung the sword over her shoulder with ease. “I guess I should help you out a bit, huh.” 

He glared at her, and she grinned at him. 

They lodged themselves somewhere in the woods, and set up camp for the night, and she created a fire, and they bickered over that, because _wasn’t_ Konoha known for their will of fire thing, then why didn’t she didn't have fire-chakra, huh?

“I’m sorry I’m _not_ an Uchiha!” she snapped at him. 

“Geez," he muttered. "Touchy, aren't we?" 

"I'm not touchy. You're just annoying." 

"Yeah, yeah, pinky." 

"It's Haruno." 

"Sure, thing Pinky." 

She plucked out burning twig and threw it in his direction. He dodged with a grin. 

Fifteen minutes later, while fishing in the nearby pond, he gnawed at his fish like a starved man, ripping off the flesh with bones because that's what a human piranha did. He used his toes to hold the skewer up all while complaining. She didn't really think he needed to nag so much because he seemed flexible. 

“Hey,” she said then. “How do I know that you’re not going to kill me or something while I sleep? Maybe I should take the first watch.” 

“I need my medic to rest,” he said pointedly. “So I can actually _move._ ” 

“Yeah, but maybe you might kidnap me, and I'm _not_ your medic." 

He waved his hand at her. "If anything, _you might_ do something to me while I sleep."

"I'm an honorable Konoha-nin. Not like you, fish-face." 

“Really, woman. What have you heard about Kiri?” he said. “S’not like I’m some kind of missing-nin.” 

“Oh really?” she said. He did _wear_ a headband. “What are you then?” 

“My brother’s the Mizukage,” he said. 

Sakura blinked, and she sat up. “What?” 

“Yeah?” he said. “Heard of him? Mangetsu Hōzuki?” 

Suigetsu Hōzuki. Mangetsu Hōzuki. 

“Oh,” she said. Her lips parted for a second. “What!?” 

“Yeah?” he said gruffly. “I bet you think he’s handsome too. All the girls do.” 

She blinked at him and then she smiled. 

“Are you _insecure_?” 

“Shut up,” he said. “Go to sleep.” 

“That’s so adorable. Is that why you’re out here trying to get the swords? To compensate?” 

“You’re annoying.” 

She huffed a laugh, and she closed her eyes. Sleep wasn’t heavy, and she’d probably be up if he moved slightly. The flame flickered, warming her back, and he stared blankly at her, and she felt it.

"Water-freak." 

She heard him scoff. 

"Pink-freak." 

* * *

She woke up for her shift, feeling refreshed, not-dead, and Sakura made a show of stretching, before getting to her feet. He watched her with some disgruntlement, and he closed his eyes. 

Sakura smacked her lips together as she walked over to the nearby body of water to get refreshed. It’s still early. The stars are still out. She lay by the lake, closed her eyes and sensed the area, and she dipped her toes into the water. 

It occurred to Sakura that she had _no idea_ how to explain this situation to Minato-sama. He had very pointedly sent her on this solo B-ranked mission, and it was her second solo mission. 

As she was thinking of words and phrases, some thirty minutes later, he showed up. The sun was going to rise soon, and the skies were lightening. 

Who knew it would end up being A-rank—unpaid, and the client was dead? Well. 

She heard footsteps behind her. 

“You got enough chakra, pinky?” 

She rolled her eyes.

“Maybe.” 

“Kay,” he said. “Turns out my brother found out that I left home. He wants me back in the village." 

"You ran away?" 

"No," he said. "I didn't _run_ away. I'm the Mizukage's brother. I don't need his permission." 

"Uh huh," she said. "You raaan away." 

"Shut up," he hissed.

He took his spot beside his bag and belongings and his giant sword, wedged behind him—like a backrest. She huffed with annoyance as she pushed him back against the tree. He eyed her with a roguish smirk. 

“I’m trying to diagnose your arms,” she snapped at him. “Stop thinking weird things.”

“I wasn’t thinking anything weird.” 

“Stupid pervy Kiri-nin.” 

“Oh! Like Konoha-nin are any better, huh? Have you heard of Jiraiya?” 

“We don’t _talk_ about Jiraiya,” she grumbled. The Icha Icha craze was _awful,_ and she was done with her sensei’s antics. 

“You’ve read it?” he asked her.

“No!” she snarled, scandalized. “I don’t read filth like it.” 

“Oh man,” he said. “I’m a fan.” 

“Why am I not surprised?” 

At some point, they both fell silent, and then his eyes fell on her face.

“Why are you staring at me?”

“What am I supposed to stare at?” 

His eyes trailed down her cheek. 

“I don’t know? The trees?” 

“Your pink hair is incredibly distracting, you know?” 

Sakura hissed. “You know what, fish-face?” She’d always been sensitive about her pink hair. “Ugh! Whatever. The sooner this gets over with, the better for both of us.” 

“Suits me fine!” 

They both slumped into silence, while she worked on the diagnosis. 

She takes her time, and she gives him an extra hard pinch when she’s done. 

“You’re a bit sensitive,” she tells him, when he yowls, and she admires her work on his arms with clinical interest. “I reattached your nerves.” 

His eyes glaze over when she goes on about medical terminology. She then stabs his chest with her finger, and tells him not to over exert himself, and if he avoided her advice—

“Yeah, yeah,” he muttered. 

“Good!” she said as she got up, and she put both hands on her hips. “Now that I’m done here...”

He stood up and he exercised his arms with a wince, but with a strange look of admiration on his face. He threw a few punches. 

“I shall get going.”

“Bye,” he said, sounding a bit weird. “Thanks for… you know… fixing my arms.” 

She cleared her throat, feeling _his_ sudden awkwardness. 

“Um,” she tugged the collar of her chuunin apparel. “Yeah, it was good teaming up with you too.” 

He grinned at her and waved goodbye, walking away from her. The big, hulking sword of his appeared to dwarf him. 

Sakura frowned at herself, and she decided to head back to Konoha, thinking of what she had to say for herself.

* * *

“Well,” Minato said. “I hadn’t expected anything better from you, Sakura-chan. Defending Konoha’s honor and all,” he smiled at her. She beamed. “But teaming up with the Mizukage's brother for a sword, well that’s new.” 

“You have no idea, Minato-sama,” she said. 

“I guess we won’t get payment, but I’m glad you defended Konoha’s honor,” he continued. “We’ll just have to double check our clients more carefully next time.” 

She nodded at him. 

“And um, Sakura-chan,” Minato said with a sharp smile. “Next time, don’t repeat this. It can get very dangerous when you attempt to take out a leader of a segment of a human trafficking ring alone, okay? Even if you are Tsunade’s apprentice. Actually, we would rather not lose our dear talented medic.”

She nodded a bit more vigorously, and she swallowed at his sharp blue eyes.

"Okay?" 

"O-okay, Minato-sama." 

She didn’t mention anything about the mist-nin or healing his arms, or the deal. 

“Dismissed. Get some rest.” 

* * *

Maybe some three months passed. 

Minato announced that he was going to the Kage-summit, and he was asking Kakashi, Naruto, Sakura and Sasuke to come along with his platoon. 

Naruto was ecstatic to see Gaara. Sasuke was slightly twitchy—because his older cousin and his brother were on the Hokage-guard platoon—and Sakura was on the balls of her feet, because she was there to talk about medical diplomacy. Team Kakashi was just tagging because of her.

The journey to the Land of Iron was long. 

To her great dismay, he was there _,_ and he looked at her. His face split into a wide grin. She narrowed her eyes at him.

Kakashi slapped her head with the Icha Icha.

“Maa...Sakura,” he said. “Don’t glare at the Mizukage.” She blinked as the Mizukage himself nodded at her, while his bodyguards glared at her. She bowed apologetically. 

Suigetsu grinned her way. 

The Raikage and Minato had a little bit of a stare-down, and Minato maintained his perfunctory Minato-smile, which was generally very scary. The Tsuchikage’s daughter blushed at Minato-sama, when his gaze swept the room, and the Tsuchikage folded his arms, while his guard—Deidara yawned. 

Itachi-san and Crow perched themselves around Sakura and Minato. Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke were behind them. They kept their eyes on the other guards of the Kage. 

Naruto waved at Kazekage Gaara enthusiastically, and Gaara smiled back. 

Sakura spoke about what medical diplomacy Konoha had to offer, points were made, other points were brought up, and what they had to do with the growing problem of Orochimaru. A fight between the Raikage and the Tsuchikage erupted over who was helping Orochimaru with what. Minato called for the meeting to end and resume once they’ve cooled their heads. 

They decided to adjourn the meeting the next morning to discuss the Orochimaru issue. The Kages were going to have a diplomatic dinner at night, and Gaara wanted to catch up with Naruto. 

The Mizukage—a very handsome Mangetsu Hozuki—turned to her, and he smiled. “You did a phenomenal job healing my brother, Haruno-san.” 

Minato and Kakashi turned to look at her.

“Ah,” she said. “He aided me on a very important mission.” 

“So he tells me,” he said lightly. “You damaged him, and you put him together, which shows extraordinary skill—as he was trapped between his hydrification states, or so he put it to our medics.” 

“Did he put it that way? Extraordinary skill?” Sakura asked politely. 

“Tch! As if!” Suigetsu exploded. 

“Well, our medics did,” Mangetsu said. “I agree with them.” 

His purple eyes bored into hers. Sakura wondered whether he was suspecting her of knowing their secrets or he was picking her apart. And for that matter, everyone else in the room was looking at her speculatively. 

“My teacher is Tsunade-sama,” she explained. “I frequently work with shinobi of a variety of kekkai genkai. It wasn’t too difficult to put together once you’ve worked as long as I have. I had to do a quick diagnosis to understand.” 

She fought the urge to smirk at Suigetsu’s scoff. 

Mangetsu, however, ignored his brother and smiled at her.

“I think Mist might definitely benefit from your skills.” 

“Konoha would be glad to aid you.” 

“That’s a delight to hear,” he said. He glanced at Minato. “We would love to have Haruno-san visit our hospitals in Kiri sometime.” 

“We would love to forge a relationship through Haruno-san,” Minato replied with a diplomatic smile, before glancing at Sakura with a smile that implied he was going to ask her _more_ questions later. “She and Suna medics have done a phenomenal job during her brief exchange, if I do say so myself. Our Kazekage can vouch for it.” 

“Is that so?” Mangetsu eyed his brother with a lilt of a smirk. “I’m sure Suigetsu would love to show you around. He and you seems to be quite taken with you.” 

His brother’s cheeks pinked ever so slightly. “Shut up, Niisama.” 

The implication settled in for Sakura and she blushed. 

They began to discuss other matters as Sakura stepped back. Suigetsu and her avoided eye contact...mostly. 

She looked his way. He wasn’t looking.

He looked her way. She wasn’t looking.

Sakura, irritated at herself for being so shy, ripped her head in his direction only to meet his narrowed eyes. They both glared at each other. 

Kakashi coughed to cover what suspiciously sounded like a laugh. 

* * *

Minato retired with his ANBU and Kakashi, and Naruto was off to spar with Gaara. Sakura and Sasuke went to watch Naruto and Gaara, which was getting heated up, when he came up to her. 

“There are training grounds here,” Suigetsu said, ignoring Sasuke. 

“I can see that?” 

“Sooooo...want to spar, pinky?” He leaned on her shoulder. 

“Don’t call me that,” she said. She pushed him off. 

“What?” He looked at her with his very stupid sharp toothed grin and brandishing his really stupid big sword. “Not like your hair has gotten any less pink.” 

“You’re really not going anywhere without a fight, huh?” she asked him. “Fine.” 

He held out his sword in front of her, and Sakura fell into position opposite him with a gleam in her eye. 

“A word of warning,” he said. “Mist-nin ain’t so soft like you Konoha nin.” 

She stomped the earth, and it shook, and she smiled at him sweetly. She was pretty sure everyone felt that. That only made him grin wider. 

“And you’re supposed to be their best?”

“Why don’t you come and find out?” 

Sasuke just folded his arms and watched them with a raised eyebrow. 

A whip of sand hit the pair of them, and the Kazekage eyed them, while Naruto waved at her. “Oh! Sakura-chan! You’re sparring too?” 

“This is Hōzuki Suigetsu,” she said. “The Mizukage’s brother.” 

“Yo.” 

“Uzumaki Naruto,” Naruto said. “Oh! You have to go, Gaara? Okay! Bye bye. See you at dinner.” 

Gaara waved at them while he followed his sister and his ANBU, and Suigetsu and Sakura started to spar, and she moved through the expanse, as he brought the sword down, she punched through him—he dispersed into water with a laugh, reforming behind her, and it continued like that, till they were both panting and sweaty and _wet_ , and Sakura thought that had to go take a shower and get dressed for dinner. 

Suigetsu glanced at Naruto and Sasuke who were both watching them.

“You’re from that clan of freaky eyeballs.” 

Sasuke—perfectly content to be ignored—wasn’t content anymore as he flickered his crimson gaze on Suigetsu. 

“Pardon?” he bit out. 

“You know, those copy-cats?” he continued. 

“How about a tag-team!” Naruto said. “Me and Sasuke against you two.” 

Suigetsu looked at Sakura with a grin. Sasuke didn’t have to be invited. He fixed his eyes on Suigetsu. 

“Sure,” Suigetsu said. 

She sighed. Naruto and Sasuke—the latter who unsheathed his sword—and Suigetsu barked a laugh. 

“What’s with that _twig?”_ Sasuke’s nose twitched with irritation.

Naruto created a bunch of clones. 

“Listen,” she said. “We’re not doing this. My teammates have enough energy to last for _hours_.” 

“I guess we’re just going to have to be a bit more cohesive _,_ huh?” He waggled his eyebrow. 

She sighed. “Fine.” 

“What are you guys waiting for?” Naruto called out from his side of the training grounds. Sasuke narrowed his eyes at them—clearly reading lips. "I'm growing old here, Sakura-chan!" 

“Yo, freaky eyeball dude!” Suigetsu called out to Sasuke. “Can your sharingan beat this combo _!?”_

He tossed his sword at her, and he melded with her, coating her skin—and she winced, because now she needed a change of clothes—and his laughter rumbled and sent shivers down her spine. 

She stomped the ground, and he charged with her sword—a blur of speed as they dismantled Naruto’s clones, and she swung the sword around deftly, blocking, parrying, _performing_ complex katas around fire-balls, and rasengans, and it was still a very weird experience, and she was half scared her teammates would be injured _badly._

But she couldn’t help the laughter when her teammates looked floored and confused at her speed, and Sasuke looked so un-Uchiha at that moment. 

“Hehe! Do your thing, pinky!” 

“Shanaaarooo!” she yelled as she brought her fist to earth where Naruto and Sasuke stood.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm genuinely not funny, and idk why i tagged this as humor
> 
> I think i wrote this wayyy back in 2017, and it was a bit more convoluted back then. Eh. 
> 
> If they are mildly ooc or maybe a little weird don't come @ me. I just write fic for this ship to sail.
> 
> Edit: Y'ALL indraaas mentioned that it's like resonance, and now AFTER WRITING it, i'm getting Soul x Maka vibes.


End file.
